Titans #1 Review and *SPOILERS*

I Wanna Reach Out and Grab Ya!

Written By: Dan Abnett
Art By: Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund, Andrew Dalhouse, Carlos M. Mangual
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: July 27, 2016

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

While for the most part we've been getting great stories coming out of Rebirth, none of them seem to be as important as this title here.  I mean, not only did we have the crazy Titans Hunt story about a Titans team that never was...... and then was, even though nobody remembered it, it then seemed to lead into the Rebirth Special, where Wally West knew all about some secret bad shit that went down in the Universe and now that he's out and about again in the land of the living........ or just not in the land of the Speed Force, it looks like him and his old friends, who had forgotten him are going to do their damnedest to get to the bottom of who screwed with time and maybe even figure what they're going to do about it.  Let's jump into this issue of Titans and see what these former teen heroes have up their sleeves for this series.  Let's check it out.

Explain It!

Our issue begins with Lilith trying to make sure the connection that they all share with Wally is maintained by her probing into his mind and them repeatedly telling each other what their names are and while this may seem silly.......... it isn't anymore silly than everyone remembering lives they didn't have after being touched by Wally and really, we don't know how this whole thing works yet and what our heroes remembering this life that was taken from them actually means and I like the idea that the Titans are doing everything they can to make sure that this past isn't lost to them again, even if that means they spend a shit load of time just sitting around a table so Lilith can try to decipher what's in Wally's subconscious that might help them find out what happened to them.  

As it turns out, Garth is the first one to wise up and realize that everything that Wally is talking about sounds a lot like that mission they just had against Mr. Twister, where they lost the last five years of their lives.......... and I don't know if I agree about him saying that whatever this thing is, it might have taken on the guise of Mr. Twister, so the best thing for them to do is try to go after Twister's lackey Mammoth to try and get some answers.......... but hey, it's a start.  The one thing that really felt odd about this issue though was the bubbly nature of Donna Troy, which is completely new with this issue.  Yeah, I know that you can argue that with her memories of her friends and her life with them returned, she's a more developed character now than we saw of her in the New 52, but I would have liked to have seen that........ or at least had a throwaway line or something, but all we get is Roy and her going out to kick the shit out of some nogoodnik drug dealers, who used to employ Mammoth as their muscle.  It turns out though that this lead only leads to another lead because apparently Mammoth is now working for Psimon....... who our heroes just keep calling Simon throughout the rest of the issue and I know that's how they'd phonetically think it was said, but these are superheroes, they should know the name Psimon, at least in my mind, but it doesn't really matter.

In the end, with the knowledge that they can find Mammoth in Psimon's employ, our heroes return to Dick Grayson's loft and we find out that Lilith might have done a bad thing.  It's really odd though, she believes that she stirred something awake in Wally's subconscious and somehow this leads to a shitty old fat magician working a kid's birthday party and when the little snot mentions going faster than the speed of light on a ride, where he wanted to have his birthday party, this makes the magician remember who he really is......... or something and he immediately turns into Abra Kadabra, who claims to these kids that he's the one who made Wally West disappear.  

That's it for this issue of Titans and while the art makes this issue solid alone, we also have our heroes acting like long time friends and that aspect alone makes this series better than the Teen Titans series has ever been because not even the Justice League have the connection that we saw these characters have here and it was really refreshing to see.  Yeah, we don't have a lot going on here yet, but it seriously gets the ball rolling with the idea that the Titans have to track down Mammoth to try and get some answers about what Titans Hunt was really about, while also throwing some legacy at us by re-introducing the classic Flash villain, Abra Kadabra....... which just sounds fun as well, while also creating a mystery about what the hell Abra was talking about when he claimed he was responsible for Wally's disappearance.  The biggest problem with this issue in my mind, besides for me still not understanding what the hell happened in Titans Hunt, especially in relation to what happened to Wally is Donna's sudden personality...... which I like, but I just would have liked a little explanation about how she went from stone cold warrior, to poking fun at Garth..... and really, just being a fun character.  Like I said, the art in this is fantastic and even if you're illiterate you'll end up enjoying this issue because goddamn it's one of the best looking books in DC Comics.

Bits and Pieces:

This issue really gets the ball rolling with not only getting to the bottom of what really happened in the Titans Hunt series, but the warning that Wally West delivered to his friends in the Rebirth issue.  If that wasn't enough, this issue also delivers on more of the legacy that DC has promised for their Rebirth initiative, surrounded by some of the best art that you've seen in any book that DC is putting out right now.  

8/10